My weekly round up

What I do to ease millennial guilt

My weekly round up

Black Iron – Winstanley House

There is a finally a place in Leicester I want to write all about, whilst discussing with anyone and everyone who will engage in conversation. The commotion is all around the new Hotel which has opened near Leicester city centre. When I found out we had a dinner reservation at Black Iron during their opening week, I was excited, to say the least. I had been waiting for an evening at this restaurant since my brief visit to Winstanley House back in June whilst it was undergoing renovation. Before we arrived my intention was not to write a post about our meal. I wanted to enjoy dinner with my family, consequently, for that reason I only took a small number of photos which I only intended to share on Instagram. This however changed as soon as I tucked into my starter.

My expectations of the venue were high. Both my Mum and Sister having been involved in various aspects of the development had both commented on how beautiful the hotel was. Winstanley House is owned and has been carefully and thoughtfully renovated by the same family who owns the City Rooms in Leicester. After many enjoyable nights at the City rooms over the years I knew it’s sister hotel Winstanley House was not going to disappoint. First impressions were solely ‘when can I move in?’ and my admiration of the venue continued to grow from there.

We made our way towards the large glass fronted reception, admiring the uplighting that lit up the outside of the building, greeted by a friendly front of house team. The atrium is a grand open space, making a feature out of the large exposed brickwork which was once the outside of the building formerly known as Braunstone Hall. Minimally decorated with copper and marble, first impressions are every blogger’s hotel dream. Whilst my Mum was talking, the event organiser in me couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of their impressive ballroom which is a story for a whole new post.

Winstanley House hotel is a Grade Two renovated hotel tucked away in acres of parkland in Leicester including their resident dining area Black Iron. Which can easily be described as a contemporary bar, restaurant and steakhouse, offering an extensive menu cooked within their charcoal-fired oven.

We were then escorted through to the restaurant. There is a separate bar area where you are invited to wait whilst your table is prepared. The restaurant was busy but I was unaware of the tables around us. The acoustics worked well not carrying noise from neighbouring tables.

(My beautiful Mummy)

We started with drinks, my sisters and I all opting for the Bohemian because it contained both gin and Elderflower, the two ingredients set to make a cocktail great, my Mum ordered a Moscow mule which I really enjoyed to my surprise. It was not a drink I would have chosen myself, but the ginger was really refreshing. Usually, when I am out for dinner with my Mum we fall into habits of ordering too many starters, thereby losing my appetite before my meal arrives. Not wanting to fall into this trap we ordered a few starters between us. Which included the bread selection with olives, Goats cheese truffles, Scallops, pork cheeks and the pork crackling.

Unable to eat red meat I ordered the corn-fed chicken breast, green beans wrapped in pancetta on a bed of mushrooms and kale opting for the creamy spinach and Horseradish mash potato. It really was superb. My sister ordered the Ribeye steak, If you can eat red meat, I would fully recommend ordering it as it looked incredible. The potato was delicious, I would personally want a touch more horseradish because I like spicy food but it gave it a perfect little kick to jazz up mashed potato. Not wanting to miss out of a favourite combination of chips and peppercorn sauce I shared a portion of the triple cooked chips which were crispy and fluffy, everything a well-cooked chip should be.

As you can imagine when the pudding menus were offered I could not even entertain the idea. I was so full, my Mum however fully aware of what the menu contained encouraged us to order the Chocolate globe. A hard white chocolate exterior which is accompanied by a hot pouring sauce. Melting away the delicious chocolate you are left with a raspberry mousse, white chocolate and raspberry sorbet. Caving into pudding peer pressure (it didn’t take much) I tried some. And honestly, this pudding is life changing, I have never tried a pudding as good as this one, and this is from someone who doesn’t eat white chocolate. We also ordered the trifle which was again delicious and everything you could want from a trifle, I could not fault it in any way but it was just slightly overshadowed by the chocolate globe being out of this world pudding level.

These are just my views of Black Iron, I was not invited to write this post so all views are fully my own. The hotel is now open for bookings along with Black Iron taking bookings for table reservations, Afternoon Tea, Breakfast and Brunch.

I would fully recommend treating yourself, friends or family to an indulgent meal, It is an amazing view of a side of Leicester which has been hidden for many years.